A Baby Boomer looks at health, finance, retirement, grown-up children and ... how time flies.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Best of Boomer Blogs: Final Exam Edition

How many of us are aware that school is ending for the year? Yes, it's time to cram for finals. Did you ever pull an all-nighter? And then . . . school is out for the summer!

I don't mean to imply that the Best of Boomer Blogs is ending. Not at all. We are Boomers. We are strong! I'm only saying that, like final exams, this is important, this is crucial, this could determine your grades for the whole semester -- and whether you get into college or grad school. The rest of your life depends on how closely you study this edition of the BBB!

Well, not quite. But here, from the Blogging Boomers, are some very thoughtful and interesting essays on a core curriculum of courses. Feel free to explain and expound.

Math: At her blog The Generation Above Me, Karen clarifies the distinction betweenlife span and life expectancy.
The oldest documented person lived to be 122. Average life expectancy
depends a great deal on environmental factors and life style choices.
Currently it's 77 in the U. S. measured from birth, but higher for
those who reach midlife.

Science: On The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, Rita R. Robison, consumer
journalist, writes about global and American efforts to reduce food
waste. Her article – “Are You Wasting Food?” – also offers
a link to cut food waste. Use the right storage techniques, purchase
only what you need, and match the serving size to what those being
served will eat are some of the recommendations.

English Lit: In Beauty Is Truth, Lisa Garon Froman reflects on the value of living in truth and being authentic. It's part of the overall message of her blog, Tao Flashes, that chronicles a "woman's way to navigating the midlife journey with integrity, harmony and grace."

Psychology: Laura Lee, aka The Midlife Crisis Queen, says in Whose Life Have You Been Living? that one of our most important psychological tasks in midlife is taking back ownership of our own lives.

About Me

I’m a Baby Boomer, part of the pig-in-a-python demographic group that has brought so many changes to America – and will continue to do so until we cash our last Social Security check. I had a typical baby boomer career. I attended college, went to business school, worked for several companies, then in my mid-50s was laid off. Meanwhile, I got divorced, and my two kids left for college. Now I live with my significant other, B, who has two children of her own. We live in the New York area, a convenient stopover for our four peripatetic 20-somethings. And I produce this blog Sightings Over Sixty which covers health, finance, retirement – concerns of people who realize that somehow they have grown up.